Reflecting on the event that took place virtually on October 27 and 28 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mélanie Duparc, the director of Smart Cities & Sport, told insidethegames: "I hope that next year will be able to meet in real life, on site somewhere, but I was very glad to be able to organise this year’s Summit virtually and I am very grateful to my Board who took the decision to offer the online version for free for cities.

"Because this way we were able to break down the barriers of participation, and that is something I really want to keep in the future.

"In the future when we will be able to organise on-site events again I really want to maintain this hybrid format on a free access for cities as well because the most important thing is really the content, and how we can share them and spread our messages about sport being an important tool for society."

Established in 2014, Smart Cities & Sport - based in Lausanne - is an annual two-day event that originates from a group of former and future Olympic host cities.

It has since expanded to any cities interested in using sport as a platform for growth and development.

Duparc added: "This year the format enabled us to welcome new cities, smaller cities who don’t usually have the finances to travel and attend on site, and also from continents that are usually not really represented - I am thinking about New Zealand and Australia, who were very much active during the Summit, and also Africa.

"So I really think that in the future, whether it will be on site or not, I would like to maintain this online platform because it makes sense for us to be able to bring together all the cities interested in using sport.

"Although in the past we have had participants from Australia and New Zealand it has been just a few.

"We had more participants and more cities represented on this online version, and also from, for example, Trinidad and Tobago for the first time, and also from different countries in Africa, such as Rwanda.

"And we had smaller cities – for example we had a lot of small cities in Canada who do not usually attend our events because it was easier this way and of course cheaper."

While there was a recording online following last year’s Summit in Tokyo, containing a post-event report with some interviews and added content, the available post-Summit online content from this year on will be comprehensive.

"The good thing is that, with the virtual aspect, once we have all the different sessions recorded they will now be available online for everyone," Duparc said.

"As soon as we have a hybrid format it is good to be able to share out content on a very large scale, so that is something we will maintain."